Euroleague CEO Jordi Bertoméu admitted that ticket sales for last weekend's Euroleague Final Four in London were not up to par with previous years, according to Israel Íñiguez of EL CONFIDENCIAL. The choice of London as the site "did not seem the most logical, taking into account the lack of basketball tradition that exists in the U.K." The site of the event, O2 Arena, seats up to 20,000 fans, but the attendance for the first game was "no more than 14,000." Bertoméu said, "Perhaps we have not gone with the same speed as other years in ticket sales. If we add to this the economic difficulties for some countries to obtain a visa, the current economic circumstances and the fact that London is not the cheapest city in Europe, it is clear the situation has not been simple." However, "Bertoméu does not at all regret choosing London as the site." Bertoméu: "For us, the U.K. is part of our 'target.' We need the ambition to have all countries having a presence in the Euroleague. It is not just a promotion or a slogan, it is pure reality" (EL CONFIDENCIAL, 5/12).

SEEKING LONDON EXPANSION: REUTERS' Patrick Graham noted Euroleague officials said that Europe's top basketball competition "hopes to expand to include a British team within as little as three years." Basketball's profile in the U.K. has risen, helped by investment ahead of the Olympics last year, "but it has never taken off as a major professional sport, overshadowed by the British love of football, rugby, cricket or golf." Euroleague Brand & Communications Manager Alex Ferrer said, "It's one of the main reasons we're here this weekend. The sooner we have a team here the better. Participation rates in the U.K. are not bad. There's no reason why it shouldn't happen. It's a long process but three years is doable." Team GB "gave a creditable account of themselves at the Olympic tournament in August," beating China and pushing eventual Silver Medalists Spain to the wire in the group stages. But the U.K. game "suffered a hammer blow in December when UK Sport decided to stop funding the game's development" after it spent £8.6M ($13.2M) on the sport in the lead-up to the Olympics (REUTERS, 5/11).

Tournament promoters said that Australia's Royal Melbourne Golf Club "will host this year's edition of the World Cup of Golf," which has been played in China since '07, according to Amlan Chakraborty of REUTERS. Mission Hills Group, which has hosted the tournament five times in China, said that the 57th edition "would be held in Melbourne in November to ensure it maintained its global status." Mission Hills Group Vice Chair Tenniel Chu said, "Mission Hills recognizes the need to maintain the tournament's prestigious global status, and as such we feel that both the tournament and the international golfing community will benefit from the 2013 edition being staged outside China." Melbourne has staged the tournament on three occasions, the last being in '88 (REUTERS, 5/11).

Rafael Nadal offered his support for Madrid's bid to host the 2020 Olympics after winning the Madrid Open. Nadal said, "There is no city that deserves the Games more than Madrid" (AS, 5/12). ... On Thursday, the X Games will get underway in Barcelona in one of the city's biggest events since the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Through ESPN, 430 million people "will have Barcelona in their homes" (EL PERIODICO, 5/11).